Open Secrets
by Turn and Walk
Summary: The effects of a love potion gone horribly wrong haunt Harry and he hopes that for once his secret won’t spread throughout the school. Meanwhile, Draco struggles with a secret of his own… HPDM slash.
1. A Strange Dream

**Open Secrets** by **Turn and Walk  
****Summary**: The effects of a love potion gone horribly wrong haunt Harry and he hopes that for once his secret won't spread throughout the school. Meanwhile, Draco struggles with a secret of his own…  
**Pairings**: Harry/Draco, one-sided Ginny/Harry.  
**Warnings**: Slash, sexual themes, Book 7 disregarded, Book 6 partially disregarded (you'll see what I mean).  
**Disclaimer**: Turner doesn't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

---

"Thanks for doing this, Hermione."

"Not at all, Ginny." The brunette replied. "Although I must say I don't think it's a very good idea."

Ginny smiled reassuringly. "I've got a plan. It's foolproof. Don't worry about it."

Hermione took a deep, shaky breath. "Why did you have to pick the potion with the highest fail rate?"

The younger girl's smile turned into a Fred-and-George like grin. "It has the strongest and most lasting results. Midnight tomorrow, he won't know what hit him."

"I'm still not convinced it's the best idea. First of all, he's already inclined to like you. Secondly, what if he talks to someone else first?"

"The key is eye contact, 'Mione. He needs to make eye contact."

"He makes eye contact with everyone he talks to, except maybe Snape, and that's only because he doesn't want him using Legilimency on him!"

The Weasley girl shook her head. "Trust me, I've got it all worked out. The moment he drinks it, I'll get his attention, ask him about Quidditch practise or something. It'll work like a charm. We'll know the next day if it works, the-"

"-effects don't show up until midnight." Hermione finished her sentence. "I was the one who told you that."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Can I just have the sample, please?" Hermione shrugged and handed her a small crystal phial filled with a clear, colourless potion. The mischievous grin returned. "Harry had better be ready to have his mind blown."

---

It was a bright Saturday morning, and still quite warm despite the fact that it was well into November. Harry and Ron had already made elaborate plans to lounge around on the grounds, enjoying what could be the last day of decent sunshine they would get, maybe popping in to say hello to Hagrid, before heading down to the Qudditch pitch for team practise. This contrasted directly with Hermione's plans to try and get them to finish their homework on Saturday rather than panicking to get it done at ten o' clock on Sunday evening to hand in on Monday, as they had done last weekend.

"Hello, Harry," Ginny said brightly, sitting across from him on the bench at the breakfast table. Harry smiled warmly at her. "Morning, Ginny," he said before turning back to Ron to discuss Quidditch strategy. When Ginny was sure they were both sufficiently distracted, she emptied the phial of potion into Harry's goblet with a furtive glance in Hermione's direction. She looked disapproving, but by now it was too late to do anything about it, so she merely shrugged.

Harry made to drink from his goblet, and as he did, two things happened at once. Ginny said, "Hey, Harry, what are we going to do at Quidditch practise this evening?" hoping to receive a long explanation that involved lots of eye contact. This didn't happen, because at that exact moment, a drawling voice floated across the Great Hall. "Hey, Potter, you going to have more Keeper tryouts today? You might want to consider getting that pathetic weasel off the pitch as soon as possible after last week's game!"

Harry whipped around, spraying pumpkin juice furiously as he did so, to glare at the source of the voice: Draco Malfoy. While his back was turned, Hermione gave Ginny a look of pure horror, but Ginny looked calm, miming the discharge of juice from Harry's mouth. Harry, meanwhile, was fuming. Gryffindor had gotten stomped at the Quidditch game last week against Ravenclaw, which was largely due to Ron's nerves, but he wasn't _bad_ at goalkeeping. But he simply glared, because he and Malfoy both knew that Ron's erratic Keeping ability had cost them the game, and there was no point in arguing. He didn't know or care why Malfoy was still on about last week's match.

"Slimy git," he muttered as he turned back around. Ron's face was pale, an almost greenish hue, and he was staring intently at his toast. "Forget it," Harry told him, but it didn't seem to help. "What were you going to say, Ginny?" he asked, taking another sip of pumpkin juice. "Oh, I was just wondering what kinds of manoeuvres we're going to go over at practise tonight?" Harry then launched into a detailed description of the things he planned to do at practise, complete with, to Ginny's utter delight, several more swigs of juice and loads of eye contact.

When his explanation was over, Ginny turned to Hermione. "Do you mind going back up to the common room with me, Hermione?" she asked. The brunette shook her head. "Good, I need help with a really difficult spell in Charms that I'm supposed to practise this weekend."

As soon as the two girls stepped into the Entrance Hall, Hermione let out a breath that she had apparently been holding ever since Harry had turned to glare at Malfoy. "That was close," Ginny breathed. "Are you sure it's going to be okay? What if… what if…" The thought was so horrible that Hermione didn't dare say it out loud. "It'll be fine," Ginny assured her. "He spit it all out before he looked at him. Plus, he might be so repulsed by him that it cancels out. You never know." Hermione shook her head. "I knew this was a bad idea, I _knew_ this was a bad idea…"

---

"Great job tonight, guys!" Harry called as the Gryffindor Quidditch team trudged back to the changing rooms, sweaty and tired. "We're going to cream Hufflepuff next weekend!" It was true. The Captain was extremely proud of his team. The Chasers had never worked together better, the Beaters were on top form, and Ron saved every attempted goal, including an insanely difficult one that Ginny had thrown with a wicked topspin. They hadn't had a good practise in weeks, and Harry was pleased to be able to go to sleep with his mind on tonight's success.

Ever since the events at the Ministry, Voldemort hadn't dared intrude upon Harry's dreams. This didn't upset Harry in the slightest. Most of his nights were now either dreamless or filled with his own thoughts. He still had nightmares sometimes about watching his godfather Sirius die, but other than that his dreams were largely pleasant. He did have the slight disadvantage now of not knowing what Voldemort was thinking, but in this case, the good vastly outweighed the bad.

When they returned to the common room, Hermione greeted Harry, Ron, and Ginny. "How was it tonight?" she asked. "Brilliant! Gryffindor's in top form for next Saturday!" replied Harry. Hermione beamed, excited to finally hear good news; the Captain usually came back looking dejected and disappointed. "You all look tired, and it's pretty late. I'll see you in the morning." She disappeared into the girls' dormitory. "I'm going to bed too. See you tomorrow, Harry," Ginny said with a grin before following Hermione upstairs. "What's she on about?" Harry asked. Ron shrugged. "Dunno, mate. Looks like we'll find out tomorrow." They, too, departed to their dormitories and changed into their pyjamas.

It wasn't long before Harry heard Ron snoring softly in the next bed, but he, as usual, elected to lay awake with his thoughts. He wasn't particularly sleepy, just worn out from Quidditch, and he probably wouldn't fall asleep until nearly midnight. As usual, he started to feel himself drifting toward sleep around quarter to twelve, and he was out before the school's clock chimed to indicate midnight.

---

_"Come closer," a familiar voice whispered seductively. Harry smiled and obliged. The source of the voice wrapped its arms around Harry's waist. "Did you miss me?" the voice breathed into his ear, and he shuddered at the feeling of the breath against his neck. "Not really," Harry whispered back, entirely truthful. The voice spoke again, even softer this time, and Harry felt its lips and tongue brush against his ear. "You will."_

_Harry shuddered once again. "When are you leaving?" he murmured. "Too soon," the voice replied. "Can I say goodbye?" Harry asked. "Of course," said the voice. The owner of the voice pulled back so that Harry could lean in for the kiss. It was the most wonderful feeling he had ever experienced. Admittedly, he had only ever kissed one person before, and she had been crying at the time… this was a welcome change._

_The other person reached down and took Harry's hands without breaking the kiss. An energy like Harry had never felt before coursed through him like an electric shock, leaving a feeling of warmth behind. Skin pressed against skin and Harry realised that he and his counterpart were both stark naked. He opened his eyes to find himself staring into a seemingly endless abyss of liquid silver that resided in the other's eyes…_

Harry jerked awake. It was still dark, and he was grateful for it as he stared down at his arousal, wondering for a moment how it got there. Then he remembered his dream, and, with a jolt of something between disgust and some sort of strange pleasure, who and what it had been about.

Harry had been vigorously snogging a nude Draco Malfoy in his dream.

---

So, what do you think? You read it, now go review it! Please try to soften your blows a little bit, this is my first writing in a long time, and it's the first thing I've done on this account.

By the way, I know it seems a little cliché, but there are definitely some twists and turns coming up. If you want to find out what they are, here's a little hint: nice reviews make Turner update faster!


	2. Nos Xevelos Sesibo

**Open Secrets** by **Turn and Walk  
Summary**: The effects of a love potion gone horribly wrong haunt Harry and he hopes that for once his secret won't spread throughout the school. Meanwhile, Draco struggles with a secret of his own…  
**Pairings**: Harry/Draco, one-sided Ginny/Harry.  
**Warnings**: Slash, sexual themes, Book 7 disregarded, Book 6 partially disregarded (you'll see what I mean).  
**Disclaimer**: Turner doesn't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

---

"Wakey wakey, Drakey!" The nauseating voice of Pansy Parkinson drifted across the Slytherin common room, sticking out among the other voices as it called out the horrible travesty of a nickname she had come up with for Draco. "You'll miss breakfast!"

Draco didn't lift his head. He was somewhat comfortable on the hard sofa. "I don't care," he told his pillow.

"You can't sleep in _all_ day!"

"It's Sunday, I can sleep in as much as I damn well please!" came the muffled response. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't particularly hungry. "Go away."

"Fine, starve if you want."

The common room fell silent. Draco enjoyed the few minutes of peace, shuffling through his mind for an answer in the comforting quiet until he was almost falling asleep again. That is, until he felt the end of the sofa sink. Someone was sitting at his feet, and he could feel a pair of eyes looking at the back of his head.

"What do you want?" he asked, still not lifting his head.

"I want to know what's wrong." Blaise. He was so observant at times.

"Nothing's wrong," Draco lied. He didn't want to tell anyone. Hell, it was difficult enough without anyone meddling in his business.

"Liar. You never miss breakfast, even if it's just for an opportunity to make a jab at Potter. Which, by the way, you _completely_ half-assed yesterday. You haven't slept in the dormitory in almost a month. So tell me, what's wrong?" Draco cringed. He didn't think anyone had noticed.

"Okay, if you really want to know..." he began.

---

"Harry? _Harry?_"

"It's no use, he's a hundred miles off."

"Harry!"

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were crowded around Harry, waving their hands in front of his face and shouting his name, trying to bring him out of oblivion. Ron took him by the shoulder and shook. "Harry!"

Harry blinked. "What's up?"

"What's wrong?" came the chorus of voices from his friends.

"Nothing's wrong," Harry replied. "Just... I had a strange dream last night. That's all..."

Hermione sprang to her feet. "Not... not one of _those_ dreams? You were supposed to be practicing your Occlumency! Those were supposed to go away! Oh, Dumbledore's going to be furious-"

Harry interrupted her rant. "Relax, 'Mione. It wasn't one of those dreams."

Hermione's eyes widened. Without warning, she grabbed Harry by the elbow and dragged him away from the Gryffindor table and out of the Great Hall. Once they were safely in the Entrance Hall and sure that it was deserted, Hermione began whispering very fast.

"When did you have your dream, Harry?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Well, I fell asleep right around midnight and-"

That was all she needed. "Was Ginny in your dream at all?"

"I- no..."

Hermione swore under her breath. "What about Malfoy? Was _he_ in your dream?"

Harry turned a shade of red that only his Uncle Vernon could top. "Um... yes."

"What was he doing?"

Harry shook his head, not daring to reveal what Malfoy had done in his dream... or what he, Harry, had done.

She swore again. "I knew this was a bad idea, I _knew_ this was a bad idea..."

"Knew what was a bad idea?"

Hermone took a deep breath. "Listen, Harry. Have you ever heard of a love potion that was more powerful than Amortentia?"

Harry blinked. "Slughorn said..."

"I know Slughorn told us that Amortentia was the most powerful!" she interrupted. "He was lying! I'm talking about a love potion that we aren't supposed to know about, that most fully grown witches and wizards haven't even heard of! It's called Nos Xevelos Sesibo, and it's the most dangerous potion ever made!"

"It's just a love potion, can't be that dangerous."

"Trust me Harry, you're in trouble. This potion… you're in deep trouble."

"What? Why?"

"You're going to fall in love with him."

"With _Malfoy?_ Not funny, Hermione. There's no way I could fall for that git. I'm not even gay."

"It's magic, Harry," Hermione reminded him. "Anything can happen."

It was Harry's turn to swear. "Why is this happening to _me_ anyway?"

"Well…" Hermione bit her lip, a nonverbal confession. "Ginny conned me into helping her make some. I didn't want to do it, I told her she didn't need it, but… well, she knows things. She basically blackmailed me into it."

"Ginny?" Harry repeated, surprised. He was vaguely curious as to what blackmail Ginny could have had on Hermione, but he didn't want to change the subject, so he refrained from pressing the issue. "Blimey, if she'd only say something, I'd be… I'd be…" He paused and his face fell. "I wouldn't be interested at all…"

"Of course you wouldn't, it's the potion! She just wanted you to make the first move, and she knew you wouldn't do it if you were thinking clearly. She _is_ your best friend's sister."

"So I'm stuck with the effects of a mysterious slow-release love potion that'll eventually make me fall for my archenemy, all because Ginny decided she wanted to be traditional for once?"

"Pretty much…" Hermione looked extremely uncomfortable.

Harry stood for a moment in dumbfounded silence. "Wait… all potions have antidotes, right? There must be some way to get it out of my system, right?"

Hermione's look of guilt became even more pronounced. "Listen, Harry. I'm not sure how Ginny got her hands on the recipe. There have only been three recorded instances of this potion's use. Two of them failed, and resulted in..." She paused, as if the word was too horrible to even think of. "Well, they ended in suicide. The other one was a happy ending, no antidote required. Since it's so rare, well... no one's ever thought to come up with an antidote."

Harry stared at the floor, trying not to explode in a fit of rage at Hermione. It wasn't really her fault, after all. "So... my options are suicide or deal with it?"

"You say 'deal with it' like it's going to be easy. And I know you won't commit suicide. That's just... not your style."

"I know it won't be easy. I imagine that the effects are going to be much more powerful than any I've ever experienced before." Harry sighed. "Sounds like there's only one solution if I don't want to be completely miserable for the rest of my life."

"What's that?" Hermione braced herself for the worst.

"I've got to get Draco Malfoy to fall for me."

---

What's this? Turner has posted something? LE GASP! Yes, I finally posted chapter two, and I PROMISE to be more active! My dear friend Itami-chan, for whom I occasionally beta read, will not post my favourite work of hers until I get my butt in gear about this one, so I has motivation! She will also only update as often as I do. Even more motivation! You can expect to see a lot more out of me in the coming months.

So, anyway, hope you enjoyed it!

I may do a little side fic/prologue-y oneshot explaining what Ginny knows about Hermione that is soooooo devastating... who knows? Hopefully that helped explain a little bit why Hermione helped Ginny, because I know she wouldn't really do that. Hmm...


	3. The Truth

**Open Secrets** by **Turn and Walk  
****Summary**: The effects of a love potion gone horribly wrong haunt Harry and he hopes that for once his secret won't spread throughout the school. Meanwhile, Draco struggles with a secret of his own…  
**Pairings**: Harry/Draco, one-sided Ginny/Harry.  
**Warnings**: Slash, sexual themes, Book 7 disregarded, Book 6 partially disregarded (you'll see what I mean).  
**Disclaimer**: Turner _still _doesn't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

---

"_I've got to get Draco Malfoy to fall for me."_

Ugh. The idea disgusted Harry. Not to mention the fact that he had no idea how he was supposed to get the Malfoy heir to fall in love with him. Well, knowing he had to was a start. As morbid as it sounded, he knew he was going to end up madly in love with the Slytherin, so much so that no other options would be remotely accurate. It was as if there were no other options to begin with.

Well, there was one other option: a miserable life. Once everything was said and done, once the war was over, Harry wanted to live on happily, like he would have without this damned potion nonsense. Hermione never would have lied about something this serious, and Harry had the dream to back it up. She had indicated that he would never be happy without Malfoy's returned affection. So win his affection it was.

It all seemed so… so strange to Harry. What else could explain his dream, though? He had never looked at any males in that way, and yet… the thought made him blush despite the fact that no one was around.

_Should _I _make some Nos Xevelos Sesibo? _Harry wondered as he lay in his four-poster bed, afraid to fall asleep. He hadn't seen Malfoy at all that day, not even at meal times. Perhaps he was ill? Harry cared, as much as he didn't want to.

_No,_ Harry's thoughts answered. _You should genuinely win him. It's more honourable. And not as likely to fail. _Psh, yeah right. Winning Malfoy's affection – _such a strange thought!_ – was just about as fail-proof as trying to lift an elephant with one finger.

It was difficult for Harry to imagine trying to make Malfoy of all people fall in love with him. Harry hated Malfoy, and Malfoy hated Harry. That's just how it worked. Could a sip of potion really change things that drastically?

Hermione had discreetly loaned him the book in which she had found her information, a short passage on a potion the book didn't even name.

_Of all the love potions in the world, _Harry had read, _the most dangerous is thankfully also the rarest. Only thrice has its use been known, the most well-known (but still quite obscure) of which having occurred in 1442. The drinker, Cristoph the Confused, made eye contact with his pursuer's father after drinking the potion, resulting in a quadruple suicide._

_One who drinks the potion will experience its effects in three stages. The first stage, which begins at midnight after ingestion, is characterized by unconscious thoughts and dreams of a sexual nature. The second, which occurs soon after the first begins, is conscious obsession. The third is genuine, unconditional love, which takes place at varying rates depending on the drinker's initial affection for the subject._

Harry knew he was experiencing the potion's first effects, and perhaps some of the second; he had begun thinking about Malfoy at odd intervals. So the answer was yes, a potion can change things that much. _Why _me, _though__? _

Harry's eyes burned as he struggled to remain awake. Finally he placed his glasses on his bedside table and succumbed to a Malfoy-infested sleep.

---

Draco Malfoy was wide awake, replaying the morning's conversation inside his head once again.

"_Nothing's fun anymore," Draco sighed. Blaise nodded. "You haven't been yourself lately," he observed. "Why are you so depressed?"_

_Draco sat up. "You cannot tell _anyone_,_ _you understand? If it gets around to my father, he'll kill me."_

"_Not a word, I swear to it."_

_Draco smiled weakly. Blaise was the only person he felt he could trust with this. His dark expression returned and he inhaled deeply._

"_I… I think I'm gay." That's it. There was no turning back now._

_Blaise was silent for a moment, then a wide grin spread across his face. "Draco…" he began. "What rock have _you_ been living under? Of _course_ you're gay!" Draco flinched. "Is it that obvious? How many people know?"_

"_Everyone but Slytherin's thickest," Blaise answered, still grinning broadly. It was infectious; Draco couldn't help but smile back._

"_But… how do they know?"_

"_Come on, how is it _not_ obvious?" came Blaise's response. "That girl from Beauxbatons in fourth year…" he trailed off when he saw the look of mingled humiliation and disgust on Draco's face. "I mean, seriously. You'd have to be bloody _blind_ to not see how miserable you were."_

"_Bloody hell…" Draco muttered. "How has my father not heard about this yet?"_

"_No one really talks about it." Blaise shrugged. "It's just kind of… there. I don't think that'll change much unless it turns out that you're shagging Harry Potter or something."_

"_Well, as long as my father doesn't find out," Draco replied, smirking at the Harry Potter comment. "You know how he is. Pure pureblood. 'You must produce an heir,'" he imitated his father in a mocking tone. "'Carry on the Malfoy name,' you know…"_

"_Yeah," Blaise answered. "My dad's like that too."_

_There was a long pause, and then Blaise stood up. "I'm going to breakfast. Coming?" Draco shook his head._

Draco's mind returned to reality, and then drifted to the subject of Harry Potter.

Looking back, Draco realised that all those years ago, back before first year, he may have had a slight, miniscule crush on the Potter boy. That dissipated almost immediately though, as soon as Potter had rejected his hand on the Hogwarts Express. Draco smirked. _He probably thinks, he's too good for me, _he thought. _Precious Potter, friend to Mudbloods and blood traitors. If he wanted me, he would've taken my offer all those years ago._

How wrong Draco was.

---

See? Posting more, posting more! Please review, I had a pathetic number of reviews for chapter two! Hopefully this chappie clears things up a bit, I know a lot of people were wondering what was up with Draco.

Might be a while before my next post, I'm writing about twenty things at once and none of them will probably get published :P

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. -grovels- Reviews please!


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